Summary: Studies in History and Philosophy of
Modern Physics 36 (2005) 680­690
Essay review
Quantum processes: A Whiteheadian
interpretation of quantum field theory
Jonathan Bain
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
Frank Ha¨ ttich, Quantum processes: A Whiteheadian interpretation of quantum field
theory, Agenda Verlag, Mu¨ nster, ISBN 3-89688-204-X, 2004 (pp. 294 Euro 29, 90)
1. Introduction
Quantum processes: A Whiteheadian interpretation of quantum field theory is an
ambitious and thought-provoking exercise in physics and metaphysics, combining an
erudite study of the very complex metaphysics of A.N. Whitehead with a well-
informed discussion of contemporary issues in the philosophy of algebraic quantum
field theory. Ha¨ ttich's overall goal is to construct an interpretation of quantum field
theory. He does this by translating key concepts in Whitehead's metaphysics into the
language of algebraic quantum field theory. In brief, this Ha¨ ttich­Whitehead (H­W,
hereafter) interpretation takes ``actual occasions'' as the fundamental ontological
entities of quantum field theory. An actual occasion is the result of two types of
processes: a ``transition process'' in which a set of initial possibly-possessed

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